Hallowed Folly
by MundaneFlames
Summary: It's all fun and games until someone decides to play a cursed tape and then people start turning up dead. To make matters worse, Kagami's not sure who poses the greater threat to his life: the evil spirit or Kuroko.
1. PROLOGUE

The lunch bell rang and students sprang to their feet, heading off in groups to either buy something or stake out a place to enjoy their home brought food. Kagami sighed and dropped his pencil mid-sketch before standing. At the desk in front of his own, Kuroko spun around to say something to the taller boy but his attention was drawn to the paper Kagami had been drawing on.

"Whats that?"

The red-head fixed him with an incredulous expression. "Don't tell me you've never seen a pumpkin before!"

"I think it has less to do with my knowledge of pumpkins and more to do with the talent behind the artist." Kuroko glanced up. "Why were you drawing a pumpkin?"

"It's almost Halloween, obviously." Said Kagami, motioning for his teammate to get a move on. "And please don't ask me what Halloween is because I _will_ smack you."

"Everyone knows about Halloween." Kuroko replied rather matter of factly as he stood and followed Kagami out of their classroom. "It's just not that popular here. American's are quite fond of it though, aren't they?"

Kagami nodded almost grimly. "It's a big deal over there. I think I read once that its the most profitable commercial holiday and in some ways its even bigger than Christmas."

"You miss it, don't you?"

"Only a little!" The taller of the two insists as they make their way down the stairs, headed towards the courtyard. "It's just that time of year, is all. The leaves are starting to turn gold and red, the air is getting cooler. I spent so many years in America that now these sorts of changes only mean one thing to me: Halloween." Grinning down at Kuroko, he continues. "Trust me, you haven't lived until you've been to a Halloween party and everyone's wearing a costume. It's the greatest!"

Kuroko found himself smiling gently. "It sounds like fun."

"That's what I'm saying! There's music and movies and so much candy you could just barf! And everyone goes out of their way to have the best costume and -"

"Why don't _you_ throw a Halloween party?"

Kagami put on the brakes so hard that Kuroko nearly ran right into him. Backing up a step, he glances upwards only to find Kagami staring down at him with his mouth agape.

"Did I say something wrong?"

(****)

On the evening of October 31st, the entire Seirin basketball team found themselves making their way to Kagami's apartment complex in various states of dress. Teppei, who had decided to come as a Frankenstein monster and had appropriately painted his face a sickly shade of green, knocked on the apartment door. Those gathered in the hallway had a laugh at the cartoonish skeleton cutouts that were tacked onto the outside of the door but when it swung open with more flourish than they'd expected, the humor was quickly wiped off their faces.

"Welcome!" Kagami proclaimed, arms stretched wide. He was dressed up as a stereotypical vampire (as was Koganei who now wanted to cry since he wasn't the only vampire in attendance) and he was surrounded on all sides by Halloween decorations. It looked like a specialty store had exploded inside his apartment and standing next to him dressed as a stoic werewolf was Kuroko.

"Hello." He said calmly, raising a paw in greeting.

"W-what is all this?" Izuki, dressed as a clown, asked in disbelief.

"You really went all out." Teppei commented somewhat awkwardly, not sure what he'd been expecting but knowing that this wasn't it.

"It's great, huh?" Kagami excitedly ushered everyone inside. "I had to go to all sorts of different stores to get everything and I even had to special order a few items. Hosting a full blown Halloween party in Japan turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be but I think the place doesn't look too shabby, if I do say so myself."

The basketball team, so far out of their element that they just stood there in shocked silence in the foyer, took in the rooms décor to the best of their abilities. Fake spider webs were literally everywhere, covering almost every available surface. A mechanical bat was wildly flying in a circle from a string attached to the ceiling and yet more, stationary bats lined the archways. Sitting at the kitchen table like it belonged there was a life sized skeleton and before it sat a bowl of eyeballs and there were plastic spiders strewn about everywhere. A glowing, smoking witches cauldron was set up on the coffee table and there was a seemingly endless amount of themed knickknacks strategically placed throughout the apartment. Needless to say, none of the teenagers had ever seen anything like it in their lives.

"Well?" Kagami prodded expectantly, clearly eager to hear what his teammates had to say about his party decorations.

"This is amazing!" Koganei eagerly supplied when the others simply couldn't find the words. "How did you even manage all this?"

"I helped." said Kuroko who was starting to hand out party favors to the team. "It was a little difficult balancing schoolwork and practice but between the two of us, we got it done."

There was a knock at the door.

Hurrying over, Kagami threw the door open to reveal the final two party guests. Hyuga, who was dressed as Date Masamune, and Riko who was wearing a rather spunky rendition of a cat costume with black shorts that had a tail sticking out of the back and oversized, black paw gloves.

"What the hell!" Hyuga exclaimed in shock, far less shy about showing his surprise than the others.

(****)

The party was in full swing when Kuroko suggested they watch a Halloween movie to keep the mood going. With Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin in mind, Kagami eagerly agreed but when Kuroko produced a DVD case that was most definitely not that of a child's cartoon he had some second thoughts.

"What _is_ that?"

"The Ring." Kuroko answered, holding up the case for Kagami to see.

"No! We're not watching that!" The red-head shouted, looking a little flustered.

Kuroko seemed a little disappointed at that. "I did some research and every Halloween article said that a party wasn't complete without a scary movie marathon so I brought these." Out of nowhere, he seemed to produce additional DVD cases for The Ring Virus and Ringu.

Kagami looked a little faint. "Why did you bring those!"

"For the scary movie marathon."

"We're not having a scary movie marathon!"

"You're not afraid are you?" Teppei said, suddenly appearing beside the two. "They're just movies, you know. Besides, isn't that the fun of Halloween? A little lighthearted fear is good for you sometimes."

Kagami looked like he wanted to cry. "It's not happening! I'm telling you Kuroko, put those damn th-" Unfortunately for the tall red-head, he made the mistake of looking down at his light haired teammate who, much to his dismay, was staring up at him with blue eyes that seemed to plead with him. It wasn't an expression very different from his usual but something in his gaze made Kagami's resolve weaken. Damn. "F-fine. We'll watch your stupid movies."

(****)

And thats all … for now. Muwahaha. Kagami strikes me as the kind of guy who would love the lighthearted side of Halloween despite how much the darker side might freak him out which is why I decided to follow through on this little plot bunny. I, personally, love Halloween so I'm really excited to be writing this. I don't really have any pairings in mind right now, it's sort of up in the air so we'll see how things work out. And don't worry, the rest of the GoM will make their appearances in the very near future so please stick around! BTW, the rating will go up in the future so brace for that.


	2. HAPPENSTANCE

After what seemed like an eternity of one horror right after another, the credits finally started rolling. Heaving a great sigh of relief, Kagami deflated against the couch feeling both exhausted and completely scared out of his wits. When The Ring had first been released in America, he'd made sure to avoid it all costs and now he knew why! If only he hadn't given in to Kuroko's whims he may have been able to sleep tonight ...

"Which one should we put in next?" Koganei said excitedly, holding up the two remaining DVD cases and comparing them.

Remembering that there were still two more movies left to watch, Kagami sat bolt upright. There was no way he could handle another one, he was already terrified as it was!

"We probably should have watched Ringu first, since it was the original." Hyuga said with a critical tone, eying the cases over Koganei's shoulder.

"By that logic, we should have read the novel before watching any of the movies!" Riko pointed out before reaching over Koganei and grabbing The Ring Virus out of his hand. "Lets just put this one in. I don't think it really matters."

"Please wait," Kuroko said, drawing everyone's attention. "There's a special feature on this disc which I think we should watch before continuing. I think it will add to the mood."

Mood? What mood! Kagami glared daggers at Kuroko but the stoic boy didn't even seem to notice as he used the DVD player remote to navigate back to the main screen before doing something lost on the red-head that made the screen go black. For a split second, Kagami thought it was malfunctioning and he was more than ready to wipe the sweat from his brow in relief when it suddenly blinked to life.

A short bout of static erupted across the black screen.

Then abruptly, an eclipse accompanied by a blood chilling _skreeeeee_, _skreeeee_ sound.

Oh god, it was the cursed tape!

Quickly covering his face with his large hands, Kagami fought down the urge to scream aloud in terror but something made him pause. All around him, the bemused murmur of his teammates rose up and he found himself feeling quite foolish. He was a man, wasn't he? Surely he could watch a single _fake_ video …

Peeking out between his fingers, Kagami watched the TV screen with bated breath.

More static.

Some kind of bubbling liquid, perhaps blood or maybe wine.

The mother from the movie who, pausing, glances directly at the viewer.

That wretched fly.

Gruesome images that made him wince and feel nauseous.

Squirming maggots.

The burning tree.

And suddenly, the well.

Kagami could feel tears stinging the backs of his eyes as he stared unblinking at the well, terrified of seeing even the slightest hint of Samara emerging from its depths to come kill him. His heart was thudding loudly within his ribcage but he couldn't look away. What if he missed it? What if she started to come out and he didn't see because he'd looked away? If he'd really been cursed by watching this video then wouldn't he see her ha-

All at once, overwhelming static that crackled and fizzed and made Kagami's heart leap up into his throat. Ramrod tiff with fear, he slowly leaned back into the couch. It was taking every fiber of his being to remain seated and not run off screaming. There was no way he could handle another movie, not after that.

The phone rang.

Jumping to his feet, Kagami bolted out of the room with a whirl of his vampire cape. The previously laughing and joking basketball team grew silent and listened as the front door slammed shut before exchanging looks with one another.

"Did he just leave?" Tsuchida asked incredulously.

"Kagami sure is a scaredy cat!" Said Riko with a laugh. "I'm sure he'll be back soon though. I mean, where could he possibly go?"

Having stood and walked over to the phone, Kuroko picked up the receiver. "Hello, Kagami residence." A pause. "You have the wrong number."

The tension in the room that no one had noticed until now dissipated and as Kuroko turned to face the others, lighthearted conversation rose up. Everyone was either talking about Kagami's whereabouts or the movie but no one seemed to be as scared as their host had been. Finally, after five minutes without a reappearance from the red-head, Kuroko volunteered to go find him.

(****)

Panting slightly, Kagami took a moment to lean against the side of a building and let his mind catch up with his body. He hadn't run very far but the adrenaline and fear had cut his endurance in half so he now felt exhausted and drained. Damn, he never should have agreed to watching those movies. He probably shouldn't have even thrown this party in the first place but how could he have ever imagined that Kuroko would bring those DVD's with him, especially knowing how much he hated scary stuff?

If he didn't know any better, he'd almost think his shadow had a sadistic side to him.

Deciding to suck it up and head back to the apartment, Kagami turned around only to find someone standing a scant few inches away from him, shrouded in darkness.

The basketball player screamed and backpedaled, heart going into overdrive all over again. He was more than prepared to let the tears start freely falling when the light of a nearby streetlamp caught on the glint of yellow hair.

Yellow hair?

"Whats up, Kagamicchi!" Kise proclaimed, emerging from the shadows.

Kagami had never wanted to break someones nose as much as he did in that moment. "K-Kise … what are you doing out here?" He ground out, struggling to keep himself in check lest he wildly attack the other boy who had quite literally just scared the snot out of him.

"I'm headed home from a date. And what about you?" Golden eyes roved over Kagami's appearance in a less than impressed way. "I like that you're trying to dress up your style a little but don't you think that outfits a bit … gauche?"

"It's a Halloween costume you jerk and you scared the crap out of me!"

Kise laughed amicably, waving a hand at the other boy to show that he hadn't meant any harm. "I know, I know! I'm only joking with you. You should try to be a little less serious, Kagamicchi. But I have to ask; you weren't trying to trick-or-treat were you? Japan isn't really into all that, y'know."

"Of course I know that!" Kagami shouted, hating the pitying look the blond was sending his way. He may have lived in America for most of his life but that didn't mean he was completely oblivious to how Japan worked.

"Then why are you out here all by yourself and dressed like that?" Kise asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"It's a long story," Kagami replied as he felt heat creep across his cheeks. He couldn't possibly tell one of his rivals that he'd been so scared by a movie that he'd fled in terror.

"Kagami-kun," said Kuroko, suddenly materializing out of the darkness.

Both Kagami and Kise screamed in surprise this time.

"K-Kurokocchi! You startled me!"

"Kuroko! For the love of god, you're going to give me a heart attack!"

"I'm sorry for scaring you. Are you alright, Kagami-kun?"

"As good as I'm going to be," The red-head grumbled, tugging his collar loose. Despite the night chill, he was burning up. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep soundly for a few months but at least I'm not dead, right?"

"That is a relief, yes." Kuroko paused, silently eying the taller boy. "If you're really that scared, we could use the method from the movie to transfer the curse to someone else."

Pulse quickening, Kagami regarded the fair haired boy almost suspiciously. Why had he brought that up so suddenly? Was he really that worried about Kagami's mental health?

"Um, what are you guys talking about?" Asked Kise, completely lost.

"Kagami-kun threw a Halloween party and we ended up watching The Ring but it really scared him. If we make a copy of the tape and have someone else watch it then we wont have anything to worry about." Kuroko turned a placid expression towards his former teammate. "Would you be willing to help us, Kise-kun?"

"Of course, Kurokocchi!"

"You don't … really believe in that kind of stuff, do you?" Kagami asked hesitantly, knowing that if Kuroko was worried about this supposed curse then he _definitely_ had cause for concern.

"Not at all, but I don't want you to be scared for the next seven days like you were when you ran out of the apartment. I was the one who brought the movies so I'll take responsibility and help ease your fears, alright?"

Kagami stared at him wordlessly. Well, that was … touching.

"You're so kind, Kurokocchi!" Kise bubbled, clearly excited by Kuroko's request for help. Turning, he motioned for the other two to follow him. "C'mon, Kasamatsu-senpai doesn't live too far from here. We'll have you uncursed in no time!"

"And why would we go to _his_ house?" Kagami grumped, falling into step behind the blond with Kuroko at his side.

"Because _he_ has a VHS player, silly!"

(****)

Wow, there were a ton of hits for the first chapter and yet no reviews. That tells me you all either hate it … or you're waiting for the good stuff. I do so hope it is the latter. But yes! Chapter two is down, for anyone who made it this far. In no time at all, things are going to be 2spooky4you and you're all going to miss these SOL moments. The third chapter might be up sometime tomorrow evening, it really depends on how I feel after work. Ciao!


	3. DISSEMINATION

Kasamatsu Yukio was not happy about dragging himself out of bed only to find Kise standing at his doorstep. Not happy in the slightest. "What are you doing here at this hour?" He growled, attempting to contain his violent impulses long enough to hear the other boy's no doubt pathetic excuse.

"I just missed you so much that I had to come see you again!" The blond proclaimed happily only to double over in pain almost immediately thereafter when a solid kick landed in the pit of his stomach. Damn, he'd thought he'd been standing out of his upperclassman's reach.

"We were with each other all afternoon and you're still not satisfied? And you only left maybe twenty minutes ago, there's no way you'd miss me already!" Kasamatsu flexed his leg muscles, preparing to kick his teammate once again but a head poking into the doorway behind Kise gave him pause. "Oh, Kagami. What's up?"

"Nothing much." The red-head grumbled, glaring daggers at Kise's back. "I just have one question though; didn't you say you were headed home after going on a date when we ran into each other earlier?"

"O-Oh, that was just a joke! A joke!" Kise insisted, flusteredly alternating between giving his blushing upperclassman an apologetic look and glaring at Kagami to shut the hell up.

"YOU WHAT!" Kasamatsu roared, looking downright murderous despite the rather endearing flush that had claimed his cheeks.

Kuroko chose this moment to poke his head inside the doorway as well. "Please don't kill him yet, Kasamatsu-kun. We need him for at least a little bit longer."

(****)

"Alright, let me get this straight," Kasamatsu intoned as he grudgingly led the unlikely group upstairs. "You threw a Halloween party and Kuroko brought The Ring, amongst other scary movies, for everyone to watch but you got so scared that you ran out of your own apartment where you eventually met up with Kise who offered to help lift the curse. Is that about right?"

"N-no! Kurokocchi asked me to!"

Kagami groaned rather loudly, cradling his own head as if a headache were coming on. "Jesus, are you sure this was a good idea Kuroko? I'm starting to think I may have been better off dealing with a few weeks worth of nightmares than going through all of _this_."

"Please don't be rude, Kagami-kun. After this is over we can all return to our respective homes and sleep peacefully."

"I don't really mind helping you out," Said Kasamatsu, ushering everyone into his room before closing and locking the door. "But I don't really understand why this is such a big deal. I mean, it's just a movie."

Kuroko glanced from the older boy to Kagami and then back again. "Yes, but Kagami-kun doesn't handle scary things very well and I don't want his imagination to get the better of him since the winter cup is right around the corner. We need him focused."

"H-hey! Now _that's_ rude." The red-head grumbled, crossing his arms and looking elsewhere. "I'd never let the evil spirit of some stupid little girl get between me and winning that tournament."

"That's all well and good," Kasamatsu said, taking a seat in front of his laptop and booting it up. "But _we're_ going to be the champions of that tournament."

Kagami's heckles rose instinctively. "Heh, I'd like to see you try!"

"Boys, please," Said Kise placatingly. "Can't we get along for just a few minutes? There's no reason to get all fired up over basketball in the middle of the night."

Kasamatsu only tsk'ed and opened his web browser. Pulling up YouTube, he typed in 'The Ring cursed video' and watched as plenty of hits came up. He then moved to connect a few cords from his laptop to the TV situated on the other side of his desk. It was a slightly older model with a VHS player built right into the thing and sitting next to it was a DVD player. Kasamatsu then stood and crossed his room, rummaging around on a shelf before returning with a black VHS tape in hand which he promptly inserted into the player. Returning to the laptop, he clicked the video that had come up in HD before hitting the record button on the TV panel.

Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his arms and watched boredly as the video played on both screens whereas Kagami hurried to cover his eyes. He'd made the mistake of watching it once before, he wasn't going to do it again!

"There, all done." Kasamatsu said at length when the video had reached its conclusion. Hitting the record button once more to make it stop, he ejected the tape and turned with the cassette in hand, waving it at his late night guests somewhat ruefully. "Now the curse should have been lifted off of you two and transferred to us, right? You should be safe from Samara or Sadako or whoever." Yawning, he leaned heavily against his desk with his elbow. "Now is that all? I _would_ like to sleep at some point tonight."

"Yes, thank you for everything." Turning, Kuroko glanced upwards. "How do you feel now, Kagami-kun?"

Peaking between his fingers, the red-head hesitated a moment before slowly nodding. "I feel good. Definitely a bit less anxious. Is that really all you have to do to escape the curse?"

"According to the movie, yes."

"Well then, thanks for the help! We'll get out of your hair now!" Kagami exclaimed, quickly grabbing Kuroko by the shoulders and physically steering him out of the room.

Left by themselves, Kasamatsu slowly turned a smoldering gaze on Kise. "So you're going around telling everyone that we're dating, huh?"

Kise silently braced himself for the foot that he knew was inevitably going to strike him.

(****)

Halfway back to the apartment, Kagami and Kuroko split up. It was so late that they were sure everyone must have already gone home and they bid farewell until morning practice. Kagami felt so drained at this point that he walked the rest of the way home in a sort of trance, exhausted on both a physical and a mental level. He was no longer scared though, reassured by the lengths Kuroko had gone in order to lift the curse, even though he still unconsciously recalled parts of the movie. That terrible _skreeee_, _skreeee_ sound in particularly echoed within his ears but it no longer scared him as it had not long ago.

That may have had more to do with being too tired to feel fear rather than anything else, but he was certainly in no position to question what had caused his relief.

Sighing, he mechanically climbed the stairs leading up to his apartment and walked down the hall. He was half asleep by the time he reached his door and he pushed it open to find his residence deathly quiet. He should have questioned plenty of things at this point but instead he merely trudged through the living room and into his bedroom where he collapsed onto the bed, vampire costume and all.

Kagami was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

(****)

S-seriously guys, you're killing me over here. At least say _something_. Two people favorited this and four people followed it and yet, still, no one has anything to say? I'm getting some really mixed feelings here and I don't think I have it in me to become one of those 'I'll only update if I get so many reviews' people but I MAY just end up dropping this story if I feel like no ones interested. An author without an audience is like a dolphin without water and an audience without an opinion is like a shark without teeth. It just doesn't happen. Anyway, the slippery slope into horror starts up next chapter and with it will come less dialogue and more action. Get hyped.


	4. ANXIETY

Kagami awoke in the dusk of early morning but he wasn't alone.

It took a moment for his groggy eyes to focus on and recognize Kuroko's face, not even a foot away from his own, and he jumped in surprise. He was laying on his side, facing the other boy who was in the same position but reversed so that they were pointed towards one another. Kagami was unable to stop the blush that creeped across his cheeks and he wondered when Kuroko had crawled into bed with him. Or why, for that matter.

Groaning softly, Kuroko stirred and opened his eyes. He smiled gently at Kagami as he snuggled deeper into the mattress, looking as content as could be. "Good morning,"

"M-morning," The red-head responded slowly. He had no idea what to think about this situation but somehow it felt right. Shrugging off his surprise, he smiled back at his teammate. "Are you hungry?"

"Very."

"I'll make us some breakfast," Climbing out of bed, Kagami made his way to the kitchen where he set about making a lovely meal for the two of them to share. In no time at all, everything was ready and he called for Kuroko.

There was no response.

He called again and waited but as the food started to cool Kagami decided to go get him since he'd probably fallen back asleep.

"Get up, Kuroko! Breakfast will get cold if -" He took but one step into his bedroom before stopping dead in his tracks. Kuroko lay sprawled across the bed like a puppet with its strings cut and the once pristine sheets underneath him had been stained almost completely black. Kagami's eyes roved over the scene, looking for the source of it all, but it didn't take long to figure out.

Kuroko's face looked like it had been mauled, deep gashes running across his forehead and cheeks. At the center of the mess that was once a familiar face were two gaping holes where his eyes had been, gushing blood almost like a fountain. And stretched across his lips, the only facial feature that didn't seem to be damaged, was a gruesomely joyous smile.

Starting awake, Kagami stared sightlessly at the wall across from him. He'd broken out in a cold sweat and his heart slammed painfully in his chest. A dream?

The adrenaline slowly eased off and, sighing, Kagami rolled over only to come face to face with Kuroko. Or at least, he thought it was once Kuroko, his face now twisted and contorted in agony as if he'd died from excruciating fear alone.

Kagami screamed as he sat upright in bed. Frantically looking around himself, he was relieved not to find Kuroko – or anyone else for that matter – in the room with him. He clutched at his chest for a moment, willing his heart to calm down. It had been a dream, he reminded himself over and over again. Kuroko was undoubtedly still asleep at his house, a fact Kagami was somewhat envious of now. There was no way he was going to be able to fall back asleep after that.

Kagami slowly got out of bed and made his way towards the kitchen but as he passed through the living room something gave him pause. He slowly turned to look at what had caught his attention only to find the entire Seirin basketball team strewn about with their lifeless bodies covered in crimson blood.

He stared, unable to comprehend the sight before him and then, as if being controlled by some invisible force, each and every one of them bonelessly sat upright. Their heads lolled against their shoulders and their arms hung useless at their sides. Some of them had been stabbed or gutted where others looked like they'd been burnt.

Then, in perfect harmony, their mouths fell open and _SKREEEEEE_, _SKREEEEEEE_

Kagami gasped, his eyes shooting open. He stared, frozen, up at the ceiling as he panted heavily, his heart suddenly feeling weak in his chest. Was he awake for real this time? Oh god, he didn't think he could handle another scene like that.

Slowly glancing down at himself, Kagami felt relief wash over him at the sight of his vampire costume. He was awake, he was certain of it.

Sitting up, the red-head took a moment to gather his bearings. What an awful sequence of nightmares – and it didn't take a genius to figure out what had caused them. So much for Kuroko's sure fire method of alleviating his fears. Damn. Kagami was going to strangle that boy when he saw him.

A quick glance at the clock reminded him of morning practice and he rose to go take a shower. After turning on every light in the apartment, that is.

(****)

Storming into the gym, Kagami picked Kuroko's vibrant hair out of the crowd and made a bee-line for him. He was going to have a word with him if it was the last thing he did. He'd been so certain last night about how transferring the curse to someone else would just magically ease all of his fears that Kagami had actually believed him but now look at him! He was practically jumping at his own shadow and it was entirely Kuroko's fault!

But when Riko turned to look at him with a worried expression on her face, he lost some of his steam. He'd been so focused on telling Kuroko how badly his plan had worked that he hadn't even realized that everyone was gathered in a circle together. What in the world were they doing?

"There's Kagami!" The female coach shouted, surprising him even more. His apprehension only doubled when everyone hurried over to him as if he were a hero returning from a long journey or something. Just what the hell was going on? "You're late!" Riko shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"S-sorry? I forgot to set my alarm last night, I fell asleep as soon as I got home." Looking at everyone's weird expressions, Kagami fixed them all with a glare. "What are you all doing?"

Riko and Hyuga exchanged glances but it was the bespectacled boy who spoke at last. "Fukuda and Kawahara didn't show up for practice this morning. Or rather, they haven't yet. We thought something was wrong since it was well past the scheduled time but since you showed up, they might as well."

"Why did you run off like that last night, Kagami? We were worried about you but then it got so late that we just couldn't wait for you to come back anymore." Riko said, sounding both hurt and worried. "You should have told us you were alright. We had no idea what may have happened to you!"

"I-I'm sorry," Kagami said, fidgeting uncomfortably. He didn't like the uncertain tone in her voice, not at all. "I didn't mean to worry you like that. By the time I got home I was so exhausted I practically passed out."

Riko glared up at him for a moment longer before turning on Kuroko. "You're responsible for this too! You were with him, weren't you? Why didn't you text me saying he was alright?"

Kuroko seemed to hesitate uncertainly before answering. "I was also tired and the thought didn't cross my mind. Please forgive me everyone. It wasn't my intention to cause you concern."

With a 'humph!', Riko crossed her arms over her chest. She was far from happy, that much was obvious, but she didn't make any more fuss about the subject, much to Kagami's relief. He wasn't sure if he could handle one of her headlocks after the morning he'd had.

The team waited ten more minutes before deciding to practice without Fukuda or Kawahara and the day seemed to progress as normal except for that god awful _skreeee_ sound playing on repeat in Kagami's ears.

That and the fact he kept catching Kuroko surreptitiously glancing around himself. Just what the hell was his problem?

(****)

Another chapter down! And finally, I'm getting some feedback from you guys. I was worried for a minute there that you all hated this story which was a little disappointing because there don't seem to be many stories of this sort for the KuroBasu fandom. But yes, like I said last chapter, we're getting into the meat of the story now and things will only go down hill from here. That being said, use your better judgment. If you don't like disturbing imagery or you don't want to think about your favorite character dying a horrible death then you may not want to continue reading. Shit WILL hit the fan and if you're not prepared then it just might take you down with it. Until next time!


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